CrossFitters show passion, devotion to fitness subculture

When an armed man walked into a Winter Garden gym this week and opened fire, word of the owner's death was a shock to the tightly knit, digitally connected community of CrossFit exercise enthusiasts.

As Richard Millsap's slaying at his CrossFit Mosaic gym become national news, it also focused attention on CrossFit's intensely loyal following among members in some 7,000 gyms across the globe, including three dozen in Central Florida.

"It is a lifestyle, it is a subculture," says Daniel Camargo, owner of Altamonte CrossFit in Altamonte Springs. "It is beyond just physical fitness ... it's really all about athletic growth, physical growth. ... There's a huge sense of community within each individual gym.

"The first thought, as a CrossFit owner, was shock," Camargo said of his reaction to news of Millsap's shooting. "How could this be? This can't be right."

As of Friday afternoon, a donation collection for Millsap's family on the fundraising website Razoo.com had raised more than $2,000. Donors left condolences such as, "The community is with you."

Though it may be a foreign term to the uninitiated, CrossFit training is practiced in gyms across the country and internationally. Regarded as an intense, comprehensive approach to fitness, the program is known for the passion and devotion it inspires in those who participate.

A CrossFit gym is not just a place to work out, say the self-described "CrossFitters."

When compared to other fitness programs, CrossFit is unusual for several reasons. Its focus, founder Greg Glassman explained in a 2002 article in CrossFit Journal, is "developed to enhance an individual's competency at all physical tasks."

"Our athletes are trained to perform successfully at multiple, diverse, and randomized physical challenges," Glassman wrote. CrossFit Inc., which licenses the CrossFit name to independently owned gyms across the globe, defines CrossFit as a regimen of "constantly varied, functional movements performed at high intensity."

Unlike many other fitness regimens, CrossFit avoids a fixed, daily routine. Rather, classes involve a "workout of the day," often abbreviated to WOD, which is different from the previous day's exercises.

According to Russell Berger, a spokesman for CrossFit Inc., what sets the program apart is that it is "based entirely on measurable results, and the measurement of those results."

Because the exercises used in the program can be measured — by timing how long it takes to complete them, for example — CrossFitters can gauge their progress, and also compete against each other.

CrossFit gyms have the reputation of being grittier and more Spartan than other gyms, which often rely on large, complex workout machinery and luxury surroundings.

CrossFit has been booming in Central Florida in recent years. Camargo recalls when he opened his gym in 2009: "I was the fourth CrossFit gym in Central Florida. ... Currently there's 36."

CrossFit is as much a fitness philosophy as a training regimen; though the core concepts of the CrossFit brand apply to each gym, individual gym owners have their own approach to the training. The owners serve in the role of "counselor" for those who struggle to adjust to or keep up with the program, Camargo said.

Added Berger of the impact of Millsap's death on his gym: "To have a successful CrossFit coach lost is just going to be devastating to that affiliate."

Berger compares the camaraderie CrossFitters share with that of players on a sports team: "There's something that happens when people suffer together," he says. "And CrossFit workouts are not easy."

That sense of community extends far beyond the individual gym, however; CrossFit boasts a robust cooperative online presence, including discussion boards where CrossFitters swap tips, goals and stories about their experiences.

An event to support Millsap's family is planned Aug. 31 at CrossFit gyms across the country, when CrossFitters will pay a $10 donation to perform a "signature movement" he created, known as a "Millsap," according to Jeremy Brassard of Armor CrossFit in Ocoee.

Brassard, who's helping coordinate the event, said a Millsap consists of the following (in CrossFit lingo): "1 power clean, 1 over bar burpee, 1 thruster, 1 over bar burpee, 1 back squat."

"Everybody will do the same workout," Brassard said. So far, he said, at least 20 Central Florida-area gyms had contacted him about participating, as well as others across the country, "from New York all the way to California."